


No One Heard

by Takianna



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-08
Updated: 2015-01-19
Packaged: 2018-02-08 00:34:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1920015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Takianna/pseuds/Takianna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Built for war, solitary in their lives although surrounded by brothers, what if love found them? Captain Rex and Commander Cody might be built from the same genetic material, but what they share is far more than solace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He had commanded his whole life. There was never a time he didn’t remember having someone under his command. You turned five, you got a DC and from there, well you were just a commander. Raised in pods of four, Rex had spent his early years commanding those in his pod. Later, he was given more brothers to look after and more and more, until he was commanding many brothers.

Many brothers who were no longer with him. 

Regret. It wasn’t something the Kaminoans had ever factored into their perfect little products for the jedi. An emotion, that if not wrangled and taken care of, could eat the person who carried it with them from the inside out. Tormenting them in their sleep and shadowing their every move while awake.

Rex had regret. It pulled the trigger every, single, time a tinnie was in his sights. It drove him to always do more, save more, give all to a government which considered him inferior. He was saving all those men he had lost on all those different planets over and over again. And still it wasn’t enough.

Still, he didn’t feel any better.

Closed off here, alone in his helmet, Rex tried to remember the names of so many of those men he had left behind, buried somewhere in mud or snow. Trampled over time and again. He hated thinking that they could not secure the bodies of all those brothers. His brothers deserved so much better, but better never came.

It wasn’t the way of the Republic though.

Rex grunted rather loudly alone in his helmet and unable to be heard. Here and in his dreams, he was with those brothers who could never return from the battlefield. Maliciously being thrown aside as though they were flimsy that had been over used and could no longer be used.

Jedi. They made this kriffing situation into what it was and never looked back over their shoulder to see how many people were cut down by their antics. Of course they didn’t fear anything, there was some secret voice speaking to them and telling them where the danger was at all times. Clones didn’t have that advantage and followed blindly to their slaughter most times. Being cut down over and over again as Jedi came out unscathed on the other end, looking the hero, standing on the piles of dead clones sacrificed for their plan.

Rex would always follow orders, but sometimes he just wanted to ask them what fresh hell this was that they were getting the men into this time. It wasn’t looking good at all, from Rex’s point of view, but he was following orders.

“Bring up the rear,” Rex said through his comm, blinking to get to the private channel shared by all the men in the formation. “Stop screwing around back there.”

There was a moment of silence and he switched off the comm again. He didn’t want to broadcast to the entire column that he had his misgivings about what they were doing. That would just breed more contempt for the jedi generals and that wasn’t something they needed help in doing.

“Tightened up, sir,” a voice came through his comm speakers in his helmet. Rex blinked through and dampened down the traffic which was coming across the comm. He wished the damn cloners had figured a way so that the soldier could be more selective with what they heard coming into their feed. Unfortunately, if they were on your channel, you were listening to them.

They hadn’t thought of everything, Rex thought. Mentally he decided that he would add this to the list of things they needed to get sorted out as soon as possible. There was such a long list of glitches that hadn’t appeared prior to the clones being in service. Yes, you could test the equipment and the men, but actually putting them into service was quite a different project. Priorities became different when tinnies were firing over your head instead of “live rounds” in some simulator.

“Captain Rex,” General Skywalker’s voice rang through his helmet. The jedi had a very commanding voice. Somehow, Rex knew, he had always been meant for war, just as the clones had been. There was just something in his voice and demeanor which made him very confident and brought confidence to those who were following him. Although, most times, they were following him to their death. 

It was a neat and tidy package.

“Rex here, General,” he said precisely as he blinked open several tactical maps and also the private channel with the General. That was one thing that those cloners did right. They knew that command needed private channels within private channels. It stopped large groups of men from knowing they were going to their slaughter, yet again. If Rex was a “normal” man, that thought would’ve sent shivers up his spine, but Rex was bred for war.

“We are going up and taking the ridge,” the general’s voice rang clear inside Rex’s bucket. “Take three squads and head up behind us to mop up.”

“Right away sir,” Rex said in his very military voice. Inside his guts were churning as he thought about which men he would be sending to their doom. When a jedi said “they were taking the ridge” it usually meant that at least half of the men Rex would command would no longer be with them when the fight was over. “Mopping up” after a jedi was like standing in front of a firing squad and seeing who would shoot first. 

Yes, the jedi could take numerous tinnies out, but there were still the more resilient ones which the clones would have to strike down. Those were the ones that were bastards.

“We move in 5,” the general said breaking Rex away from his thoughts again. 

Rex clicked off the channel and looked at the tactical maps, they were going to get slaughtered and he hated it because they were his brothers.

“We need three squads,” Rex cut through the chatter between the squads as he came across the 501st master com. “We are on mop up behind the General and Commander.”

There were groans because every clone knew exactly what that meant. 

“I don’t want a lot of chatter,” Rex said, his voice commanding. “I want volunteers or I will pick who goes myself.”

Rex didn’t want to pick himself. Those squads would be sent to their death or worse wounded in battle and taken out of “commission.” He didn’t want anymore blood on his hands today, there was already enough. Voices started to ring through the channel as volunteers started shouting out their numbers and squads. 

The names and voices, Rex tried to commit to memory. It’s all he had at this point.


	2. Chapter 2

“Where is he?” Cody whispered to himself as he walked down the corridor of the Negotiator to where he thought Captain Rex might be hiding out. The battle had been brutal, at least that is what reports were telling Cody as they scrolled through his helmet. The Negotiator had just arrived and was taking on clones who were coming back from the surface. They would later be transferred to their regular ships, but right now, they were all here huddled in masses and strung throughout the corridors of the ship.

The Negotiator had been Cody’s home since the beginning of the war. Usually it wasn’t far from the Resolute, but this time, they had been a day behind General Skywalker’s flag ship. It was their turn for respite duty. This meant that they would come into the battle theater and serve as a place for wounded clones to be treated and returning clones to have a few hours before they were returned to their ships where they might again go into battle.

Clones were not subject to normal rules and as long as they could stand and hold a weapon, they would fight. There was no getting tired and there was no room for error.

As Cody walked down the hall strewn with clones in various positions laid all about the corridor trying to catch some sort of rest before they were transferred back to their ships, his eyes scanned for the Captain. The men didn’t salute Cody as he walked by suited him just fine. Cody knew all too well the exhaustion of being in battle and he wouldn’t have wanted a salute any way because these were his brothers.

At the far end of the corridor, balled up in the sill of a transparisteel window, Cody saw the familiar markings of Captain Rex’s helmet with it’s Jaang eyes peering at him, which was tucked near the other clone’s head. Rex’s helmet was never far away and Cody was surprised that he was asleep. It seemed from all the late night calls that Cody received from Rex, that he never slept. 

Rex looked serene as Cody approached, but quickly there was a blaster pointed at Cody’s throat pushing him back several paces as Rex uncurled himself from the sill to his full height. Damn he was fast.

“Commander,” Rex said eyeing him and then smiled a crooked smile, never lowering his weapon. “Hasn’t anyone ever told you not to sneak up on us clones? We’ll drop you dead.”

“I didn’t think the loud sound of my boots coming down the corridor was considered sneaking,” Cody said, a smile parting his lips as he looked at Rex’s sweaty and dirty face.

“Good to see you,” Rex said holstering his blaster on his hip and letting his hand rest on it’s grip. 

“Good to see you old friend,” Cody smiled and clamped Rex on the shoulder.

Rex and Cody shared this moment every time they came back from a planet. It’s not to say that clones were superstitious, but Rex and Cody felt if they greeted each other, then they would always have to come back, no matter what. There would always be some reason that they needed to survive.

“Bad?” Cody asked leaning against the sill and watching Rex take up the same leisurely posture although they both knew at a moment’s notice they could kill another person. There muscles were so tuned to fighting that they were strung tightly under their skin. Reaction was everything.

“Awful,” Rex said and wiped a hand over his face only managing to smudge the dirt around even more.

“Have you eaten?” Cody asked and crossed his arms over his chest, regarding Rex. Cody knew how ravenous most clones were after battle and the respite ship was there to make sure they were fed before returning to battle. Clones’ bodies used twice as much energy as regular humanoids due to the rapid aging which brought them to maturity more quickly.

“Yep,” Rex smiled. “I was about to see what the shower situation was, but thought I might catch a few winks before I had to head out.”

“I’m sure for you Captain there would be a stall available,” Cody smirked.

“Why get clean when all I’m going to do is go back to the planet and get dirty again?” Rex laughed.

It felt good for both of them to find solace in time together. Rex and Cody had been friends for a very long time. In fact, they were quite the team back on Kamino when it came to pulling pranks. Rex was sure that Cody would end up being one of those straight laced kind of officers. Of course, Rex had been right. 

Rex saw Cody as straight laced and Cody always saw Rex as a troublemaker. That was just the way they were, whether it was true or not, they both perceived each other in that way because it was some of the traits they wished were more prevalent in themselves.

“Who is missing?” Cody finally asked, stepping across the barrier and into what was common talk among clones. You didn’t ask who died, it was always who was missing, because there was that hope that a brother would show up again before the group left the planet completely.

“I’m not sure yet,” Rex said hanging his head, not wanting to think about who he had sent into the maw of death. “I would have to look through the reports more thoroughly, but I think at least one squad was completely obliterated.”

Cody shared in the burden of Rex’s pain. Commanding, no matter how long you had done it, was not an easy thing. That was why the training was so much more difficult for those who were in command. It was rigorous and mentally draining because that was what life in command was like. You made choices which either killed or saved men. The aftermath was yours alone to carry with you. Cody always knew that Rex carried it rather heavily. Rex knew that Cody carried his secretly and dared not show anyone that it bothered him. This was just the nature of the beast.

“Let’s get you into the showers,” Cody finally said tapping Rex on the shoulder and urging him to stand and follow him.

“I hear showers got a revamp,” Rex said as he pulled his kit together and clipped his helmet onto his belt, the eerie glow of reports scrolling across the HUD was cast up on Rex’s dirty and scratched armor.

“Yeah, they were pathetic before,” Cody laughed. “I had them change them so they were more useful to us when we got back up here. These designers don’t know anything, but we’ve always known that.”

The two clones chuckled as they moved past other brothers who were catching some rest. Finally they arrived at a long line of doors, just wide enough for clones to fit their shoulders inside. Each door had a green or red light which was displayed prominently on the door. This indicated whether they were occupied or unoccupied. With tactical precision, Rex and Cody scanned the long row of lights and finally saw there was one green light halfway down the long row.

Rex went first and Cody followed towards the door. In the next instant, they were both inside a very narrow dressing room with a shower at the other end. It was a bit cramped with two clones inside, but Cody didn’t care. As the door clicked shut behind him, Rex already had his hands up on Cody’s cheeks and his lips were kissing Cody’s hungrily. 

Cody dropped his helmet to the decking and let his arms snake around Rex’s neck, his mouth opening to receive the passionate kisses. Rex tasted of war, but Cody was thankful he was alive. It had been a struggle to keep his emotions in check when he waited for the first reports to roll in from the front and now all that pent up energy was released through the lips of the other clone.

“I was so worried,” Cody said in between kisses from Rex. 

“Don’t worry about me,” Rex said looking at Cody has he held his head in his hands. “I know when to shoot.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strong language

Captain Rex showered thoroughly and finally wrapped the towel around his waist, letting the water bead on his bare chest. Luckily, he would dry rather quickly with help of the temperature controlled room. Cody had done a great job with the shower redesign.

“You can turn around,” Rex laughed as he saw the back of Cody’s armor facing him. Cody was different. Although they were all raised in barracks and pods of four, Cody somehow had managed to keep his sense of modesty. He had merely been giving Rex privacy while he was showering. Rex thought it was pretty endearing. You didn’t find that very often in the army, but Cody was different. He was special in a way Rex couldn’t put his finger on, but he liked it.

“Hard habit to break,” Cody said, a flush rising to his cheeks when he looked at Rex. They had spent months talking about everything. They talked about war, they talked about what they thought would happen to them after the war and they talked about their own experiences, however limited those were. Rex and Cody had spent time getting to know each other, in the absence of being together physically.

Cody knew that Rex was not as hard hearted as he led the 501st to believe and Rex knew that Cody was still a shy and naive clone, no matter what his age chip said.

“Hand me my suit and I’ll make you a little more comfortable,” Rex laughed and put his hand out. Cody handed him the suit and he started to shimmy into it as best he could with the water still on his skin. The cloners sure knew skin tight.

Rex had spoken many times to Cody about physical involvement between them. For one, they were hardly ever in the same place at the same time when people were not shooting at them and two, Cody had admitted to Rex that he had never been with a man.  That was something Rex had surprised him and he had taken rather seriously. It was one thing to have your way with women as you were being “ripened up” (as the Kaminoans called it), but it was another to never have had a physical relationship with another man. To Rex, this was something very precious that Cody could give him, if he wished, but it was up to Cody. Although Rex found Cody extremely attractive and would love to be able to show his love, Cody would have to make that decision. Rex had promised that he would not pressure him.

_“Never?” Rex asked again as they sat in his small quarters, stripped down to nothing but their underwear. Oh Rex had thought this was going to go much further, but that had been put to a stop when Cody had protested._

_“What about you?” Cody asked eyes widening as he talked._

_“Um yeah,” Rex said and picked at something very small on the blanket. “Several times. You know Kix and Fives. Um….I have a high sex drive. I like to get them when they are shiny, makes it so much better.”_

_“WHAT?” Cody shrieked, the look of pure terror on his face. Rex thought he also saw some disappointment there as well. Something about the fact that they would not be learning this together made Cody seem all that more vulnerable to Rex._

_“I’m kidding about the shinies. Okay? Calm down,” Rex laughed. Cody could not take a joke. “Just some of the men from my pod, but nothing serious.”_

_“It never crossed my mind,” Cody said._

_“Why, because I seem so macho?”_

_“No because I’m sure it’s something the Republic would frown on and also the cloners. I’m sure they didn’t make us to fuck each other.”_

_“Well, then they should’ve made some women.”_

So Rex was left with a constant lust for Cody and no where to dispense with his feelings. He spent many evenings alone in his bunk with nothing but a magazine and some towels to clean up the mess. It had been a very long six months since they had admitted to each other that they weren’t only brothers.

Rex had been in a terrible place at that time. So many of his men had been killed in a mission and he believed that there was no way to go on. Alcohol had become Rex’s friend rather quickly and he had actually been pulled from two following missions because he was so intoxicated that he couldn’t even get his armor on. Cody had taken over the 501st for those two sorties.

_“So you want to sit here and wallow in your own self-pity,” Cody asked slamming his fist on the small table to get Rex’s attention._

_“I’ll do whatever the fuck I want to do,” Rex said rising to his feet and poking Cody in the chest. “Why don’t you just go back to being the perfect soldier.”_

_“The longer that you stay here,” Cody said in a low and warning voice, “the more of your soldiers who die. Is that what you want?”_

_“I don’t want to fight anymore,” Rex said his voice cracking and tears coming to his eyes. “I can’t watch one more man become damaged because I’ve ordered them into battle.”_

_“It’s your job.”_

_“I don’t want to do it.”_

_Rex sobbed. Cody took the other clone into his arms and let him cry. There was no one who knew what you were going through better. Cody had watched so many men killed by his orders that he didn’t know how he kept going, but there was a box inside your mind that you just locked all those things up inside. You never got into the box and you never left the box open. Rex had left the box open._

_“We don’t get a choice,” Cody finally said quietly._

_“We’re human,” Rex said, his voice thick with tears._

_“Not to them.”_

_In that moment, Cody saw in Rex the vulnerability that was inside of all clones. It was hidden behind plastoid armor and weapons that blazed heavy and hard. It was hidden away in the DNA that was Jango Fett’s, but it was still there. No matter how many times they pushed it down, sometimes it rose to the top and begged for attention._

_“Don’t cry,” Cody said soothingly and used his thumbs to wipe the tears from Rex’s cheeks. “I’ve been there. You can get through this and still fight.”_

_Rex shook his head “no” but Cody could already see some of the resolve returning to his brother. In an instant and without thought, Cody pressed his lips to Rex’s and kissed him passionately._

“Do you have orders yet?” Cody asked as Rex finished securing his armor again. The time they had was far too short, Rex thought. After this, he would have to see if they could make some time together. Maybe a simulation run that somehow turned into more of a make out session.

Checking his wrist gauntlet, Rex noted that he had received three messages while he was on silent and in the shower. Opening the first one, Rex saw that it was the just the updated casualty list. He would have to go through that later. The second was a call to return to ship for the 501st. The third was a 10 minute warning for pick up to return to ship.

“Well I’m leaving,” Rex said and checked to make sure that all his kit was in the correct place. “Would rather stay with you.”

“Don’t make it harder,” Cody said and grasped Rex’s hand. “Please, it’s hard enough as it is.”

Rex nodded in agreement. What this was between them, it would never be easy. It would never be normal in anyway, but Rex knew what he felt. It was a tickling in his stomach that he had never felt before and that was what made him know that Cody was where his heart belonged. Rex quickly brushed his lips against Cody's lips and then he was gone.

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

Captain Rex had transferred over to the Negotiator early in the morning hours. There were so many rumors going around the Resolute of what was happening to the brothers on the other ship that Rex thought he should go over and find out exactly what they were facing. So far, from what he had been able to gather, it was not good. The messages from Cody had been rather dire and it worried Rex. Not only for himself, but what it was doing to Cody.

Multiple clones had been isolated with some sort of sickness, which the doctors were having trouble categorizing. The sickness was in its infancy, which Rex knew made it all that more difficult to pin down what it was and how to stop it from infecting all the clones on board. Others were not being affected by the illness, which made Rex believe it was some sort of germ warfare which there was no intelligence on, as of yet.

When he had docked with the Negotiator, Rex had been stripped down and scrubbed completely from head to toe. They had issued him new clothes to wear while there and his armor was held at the airlock, the clothes would be incinerated when Rex took them off. Rex knew these were all precautions for keeping the illness at bay, but the Resolute didn’t have any cases yet. Only time would tell if they would get any. He hoped that this was one germ that wouldn’t get hold in his troops.

Rex had been waiting in the briefing room for almost 30 minutes when General Kenobi arrived with Cody following behind. Cody, still dressed in his armor, looked as though he been put through the wringer. As Rex stood for the entrance of the General,  he saw that Cody had dark circles under his eyes and he looked as though he hadn’t slept in days. Rex also thought that he appeared to be thinner, but that might be from all the campaigns they had been doing lately. Sweating inside of armor everyday did make the pounds come off rather quickly, if you weren’t keeping up with calorie intake. Rex made a note to talk with Cody about eating more. Not that you ever had to tell clones to eat, that was one of their favorite past times.

“At ease,” General Kenobi said and took a seat across from Rex.

Cody smiled, small, but a hint of warmth was behind it and Rex inclined his head slightly at the other clone to say his “hello.”

These kinds of meetings were torture. Cody and Rex knew each other well, but they had to hide the fact that they knew each other that well. There was no place in the war for romance, that had been made very clear to all the clones. They were not to be distracted and yet here Rex sat, distracted as ever, waiting on another briefing. He wanted to rush to Cody and ask him what he could do to help him, but he sat, calmly, across from the General and Cody and waited.

“We have 360 clones who are currently infected,” General Kenobi said and pushed a datapad across the table for Rex to look over. The numbers of clones infected were scrolling by and Rex shook his head at the misery.  “They have high fevers and experiencing full body convulsions. Only two cases have been fatal and we believe they were the original carriers. The doctors aren’t sure what it is and how it’s being spread.”

Rex grunted and looked at the pad. Just like the military to make you have a decon bath when they didn’t know how the sickness was being transmitted. They were always thorough, Rex thought to himself and scratched at a patch of raw skin on his arm where he had been scrubbed.

“Who is onboard that can find a cure?” Rex asked looking up from the datapad and meeting eyes with General Kenobi.

“No scientists,” Kenobi said and sighed. “We have sent a message to Kamino, but they assure us it’s not in the genetic makeup of their ‘product.’”

That word had always pissed Rex off. He was not a ‘product.” He was man and he had feelings and he had memories, although he still believed some of them were not his own. The Kaminoans were only worried about how they would look to the galaxy if their ‘product’ was found to be inferior or defective. They never cared about the people they created. Rex knew because he had watched what happened to clones who were inferior and defective. All clones knew what happened to brothers who were not right and they didn’t like to talk about it.

“So what are you doing now to stop this disease?” Rex asked with a dry mouth. There had to be something which could be done to stop this disease from spreading like wildfire.

“We’ve tried several treatments that the doctors thought would stop the fevers,” Kenobi said looking at Rex again, “but they haven’t really been successful. There is some recovery, but that is always followed by an episode which is far worse than before.” 

“There is nothing we can do at the moment,” Cody said, his voice was small and very quiet. Rex knew that he was taking it rather hard because Cody always took it just as hard as any other commander. There were lives which were placed in your hands and what happened to them, was your fault, no matter what others told you. Those were your men and they belonged to no one else. If they died, they died in your service and they would always be your men.

These were Cody’s men and Rex could see his pain written all over his face as he talked about what was happening.

“Then we have to contain it,” Rex said and handed the datapad back to General Kenobi.

“That is what we are in the middle of now,” General Kenobi said. “All of the men who are sick are contained and we have sanitized everything. As you know, we have docking procedures for incoming clones. That is not only for our protection, but for them as well. Captain you will get another bath on your way out.”

Rex shook his head. He wasn’t sure that his skin would be able to keep up with all of this scrubbing. It might peel from his body and then he would just a skeleton captain under all that armor.

“I want to see the men,” Rex said finally. Maybe if he saw what they were going through, he might be able to offer suggestions.

“I advise against it,” General Kenobi said to the clone. “You are susceptible to whatever this is and I don’t think we should risk taking it to the Resolute. Cody hasn’t been able to visit his men either. We don’t want all of the command clones to be sick. We need you.”

“You shouldn’t go,” Cody chimed in. Rex gave them both a grimace, but they had a point. There was no reason that he needed to take whatever this was back to the Resolute with him.

“Do you need supplies?” Rex asked looking at Cody in particular knowing that there might be things that he needed to which the General was not privy.

“We are stocked, but some of the medicines they are using might be running low,” Cody said pulling his own datapad out and looking through several numbers. Cody rubbed his eyes and looked at the pad again. Rex was starting to worrying about him, in fact, his heart was screaming for Cody to be okay. 

Cody had to be fine. Rex wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I’ll see what we have to spare,” Rex said wanting to hug Cody and hold him close to make sure that he was okay.

“What we need is a research scientist,” Cody laughed. “If you have one of those, that would be great.”

Rex had already sent information to Coruscant and Kamino. Kamino was refusing anyone to help, but there was a scientist en route from Coruscant. They were still a day away. Rex hoped that it was in plenty of time to save the clones.

“Got you covered,” Rex said, a common term between the clones. It meant that things were going to be alright and that there were reinforcements coming. Rex saw that Cody’s eyes brightened slightly at the sentence.

Then Cody was laying in on the floor next to the table and he was convulsing terribly, he arms and legs hitting the legs of the table and chairs with a terrible plastoid against metal sound. Rex rushed from his chair, knocking it to the ground, to be by Cody’s side. He picked up the man’s upper body and held him close to his chest. Rex didn’t care if the General was there and saw what he was doing. Cody was sick.

“Captain Rex,” General Kenobi said from behind, but Rex didn’t really hear the rest of what he was saying. Cody needed him.

“Get help!” Rex said turning to look at General Kenobi who was already calling for medical assistance. Unshed tears began to blur Rex’s vision as he held Cody tightly against him.

“Don’t go, Cody,” he whispered. “Don’t go.”


	5. Chapter 5

Rex and Cody had been quarantined together, in a very small and antiseptic looking room. Their two cots were almost side-by-side, giving little room to move about in the room. Rex and Cody merely laid in bunks and awaited whatever the inevitable end was to their existence.

Cody had suffered three more convulsions since they had moved into the room and he was getting no relief from the fever. HIs skin was hot to to the touch and Rex noticed that he alternated between chills and being far too hot for covers.

“You hanging in there soldier?’ Rex asked over to Cody. He could never really tell when he was sleeping and when he was awake. Rex pretty much just talked to him all the time. He wanted to make sure that Cody never felt alone.

“I don’t know,” came Cody’s voice chattering. Rex stood up from his cot and covered Cody with another blanket, tucking it gently around his shivering body. This was something he did several times in an hour, but he wanted to take care of Cody. They were all each other had and Cody had to live.

“You could’ve gotten us discovered,” Cody said to Rex in a hushed and chattery tone.

“Who gives a kriff?” Rex snarled at Cody. This was at least the fourth time the other clone had lectured him on what he had done wrong. “I don’t think it makes me any less of a soldier to show concern for a friend.”

“A friend?” Cody snorted.

“As far as the Jedi are concerned, a friend,” Rex said tucking the blankets in tighter.

What jedi didn’t know and didn’t need to know could fill a rather large book. Jedi didn’t have relationships like others did, but Rex wasn’t even sure that clones had relationships like other people did. This whole thing was a complete mess. Clones, who knew nothing about life and experience led by people who knew nothing about life and experience.

It was a ball of naivety with no good answers.

“I care Rex,” Cody said still shivering. “They are watching our every move. Seeing how we perform. You know what happens when we are deemed defective.”

“We aren’t defective,” Rex said crossing his arms and looking at Cody. “We perform at optimal parameters. You know that and still here we are.”

Cody shook his head and rolled his eyes at Rex. Yes, Rex knew how to be infuriating. It was something that he had practiced on many Kaminoans in his lifetime. They were so easy to get riled up and it was so much fun.

“Do you remember the time we decided that we would ‘re-arrange’ an entire lab?” Rex smirked at the thought of one of the many pranks they had pulled as young clones. There were so many opportunities to have their way with the Kaminoans. They hadn’t produced many humanoids before and they didn’t know what kind of mischief young boys could get into.

They soon found out.

“You got me into that mess,” Cody said a weak smile spreading across his face. “We could’ve been killed.”

“But we weren’t.”

“Luck.”

Rex smiled at Cody and patted him gently on the shoulder. That’s about all clones had was luck. You were lucky if you survived decanting. You were lucky if you survived your first live fire exercise. You were lucky if you were still alive this far into the war. Luck was something that often ran out on clones. Rex wondered if his luck was about to run out as well.

The one person, no the only person, who could give Rex solace in a war filled with death, lay in the cot chattering from cold flashes and uncontrollable convulsions. There was nothing that Rex could do to help him and only could stand by and watch as another med droid tried something else that someone thought was a good idea.

“Why aren’t you sick?” Cody asked breaking Rex from his thoughts.

“Don’t know,” Rex said. In fact, despite the circumstances, he had never felt better. 

“Maybe you are immune,” Cody said his bottom lip trembling as he fought off the chills.

“How can I be immune? I’m made of the same stuff as you.”

“Maybe the batch?”

“None of my pod mates are still alive. I don’t know other clones that might be in my batch.”

Rex rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Maybe Cody was on to something. Maybe there was something in the batch that Rex had been harvested from that made him immune to whatever this disease was that the clones were coming down with. Rex pressed the call button and old med droid trundled into the room.

“Do you need assistance?” it asked with that awful metallic voice that all the droids had. It made a shiver run up Rex’s spine. He would always hate droids, but this one was the only way that he would get help.

“I need to speak with General Kenobi,” Rex said. “I think we have an idea.”

<><>

Rex wanted to punch the droid in the face plate as it poked another needle into his arm. This was the seventh vial of blood that stupid thing had taken and it was really starting to hurt. Rex grunted again as the needle was removed from his arm and the droid trundled about its business. If he had a blaster….

“We have found one of you batchmates alive,” General Kenobi said looking up from his datapad as Rex grunted. “Wow, your batch has taken some serious hits.”

Rex shook his head. Jedi were not subtle, he had found that out when he first started working with them. They were very blunt. On the battlefield, that was a good thing, but here, Rex felt his heart sink a little thinking about all the batchmates that he had and now they could only find one other. What had happened to the 7,000 series? Were they inferior?

“He’s on the frontline, but they are dispatching a medic to get a sample of his blood,” the General said. “It’s a start.” Rex hoped they didn’t take as much blood from someone trying to keep himself alive as they had taken from his own arm. 

“How is Cody?” Rex asked rolling his sleeve back down and looking grimly at General Kenobi. Cody had been given an injection of a first-round vaccination which had been synthesized from Rex’s blood by the scientist who had set up shop on the Resolute. Rex wished he was back on the Resolute, but knew that his place was here, trying to help the clones who were sick.

“The fever is holding, but the convulsions had stopped,” General Kenobi said. “Hopefully in the next few days the fever will break.”

Rex shook his head. All of this work, everything they were trying to do and Cody was still in jeopardy. He was still on the edge of never coming back. That was something Rex couldn’t handle. Cody was the one person who could really understand what he was going through and he would’ve never come out of his self-pity. Cody was the stable one, Rex was the one who was going to fly off the handle at any moment. They needed each other.

“Do you need more blood?” Rex asked wanting to be dismissed as quickly as possible. The General had returned to his pad while the conversation lulled. 

“No, you can return to quarantine,” he said offhandedly. 

<><>

“Better?” Rex asked tucking another blanket around Cody. Cody nodded yes and Rex leaned against the cot. 

“They keep taking your blood,” Cody said weakly, “you’ll shrivel up and blow away.”

“I got plenty,” Rex smiled. “Plus they found a batchmate.”   
“Just one?”

“Yeah.”

“Sorry brother,” Cody said pushing his fingers out from under the blanket to touch Rex’s hand. “They were a good series.”

“Well maybe not so good,” Rex said grimacing. “Probably their aim. They need two blasters to make sure they get everything. Plus, we were all left-handed. You are all right-handed. Must have been a genetic defect, but the Kaminoans didn’t think it made us too ‘defective.’”

“Makes you different,” Cody smiled.

“Only a clone would think that was a good thing,” Rex laughed.

“Or someone who loves you.”

Rex’s eyes got big. They were being watched. Everything they said and talked about in the room was on some sort of recording. He didn’t want Cody to get himself into trouble with whomever might be watching.

“You are talking crazy,” Rex said trying to make it as though Cody was crazy with fever.

“I know what I know,” Cody said looking at Rex. There were unspoken words between them in that moment as they looked into each other’s eyes. There was understanding there and they knew what they had together.

“You should get some rest,” Rex finally said breaking eye contact with the other clone and climbing into his own cot for yet another night within arm’s reach of the one person who could bring his body solace. 

Damn, Cody better be worth the wait.

  
  
  



	6. Chapter 6

It had been far too long since Rex’s booted feet had trod upon the decking of the Resolute. He was thankful to be back on board and that a cure for the virus had been found with some ease, although all the blood he donated had made him rather weak, in the end and had required several days of recovery that he had not anticipated.

Cody had recovered completely and they had said their goodbyes, just like always. Rex had wished that he had said more. Cody had really poured his heart out in those few words he had said while he was ill. Rex didn’t seem able to reciprocate enough, but he was sure that Cody understood. Clones were not made to share affection with others. They were a rather solitary group, really. Even though they numbered in the thousands, they kept to themselves mostly and Rex was sure that was a product of Jango Fett’s genetic material. He had been a loner as well. It also kept them from being too emotionally attached to anyone and made the death of others easier. Or that is what the Kaminoans had hoped, but Rex knew that in any group, people gravitated towards each other, it was just human nature.

As Rex strode down the corridor towards his next briefing, he saw several groups of clones move throughout the ship. Little did they know what he had done to save them, even above and beyond trying to keep their asses from being handed to them on the battlefield, which he was always trying to do, no matter what. It didn’t seem to work too well though as more and more of the 501st was wiped out during each sortie.

“Captain Rex,” his comm buzzed breaking him from his thoughts.

“Go ahead,” Rex said depressing the small blinking button on his gauntlet, but never missing a single stride on his way to the briefing room.

“We have an incoming call from the Negotiator,” the voice, his voice, said from the other end. “Priority 1.”

Rex smirked. Priority coding was not something that the clones usually used, but Rex and Cody had come up with a very elaborate way of keeping in touch with each other. You had to be elaborate and always seem like you were very military if you were trying to hide something. Clones knew there stuff, but Priority 1 was something that Rex had taught to General Skywalker as well so that things would always seem on the up and up even when it was Cody calling.

Who were they hiding from? Were they hiding it from the Generals because they knew that they frowned on it or were they hiding it from themselves? Where they both really ready to admit what was happening between them? 

Rex wasn’t sure anymore, but knew that it was something that they should really keep quiet. Fraternizing was frowned upon, although it happened all the time. Fives and Hardcase had been up to “no good” for a very long time, but Rex had just turned a blind eye to it as had many other brothers. It wasn’t his business what made the other men happy, as long as they fought and fought well. Who they loved should never matter and who he loved shouldn’t matter either.

“Patch me through,” Rex said putting his bucket on for a little bit of privacy, if it was to be had on a ship filled with thousands of people.

“Where you heading?” Cody’s voice filled his ears and Rex let a smile drift across his face.

“I have a briefing,” Rex said being conversational. “Don’t you have one to be at too?”

“On my way now. Just wanted to hear your voice.”

“Talk to yourself, then you will hear my voice.”

Laughter erupted all around Rex and he let a smile grow more prominent on his lips. It was a wonderful sound to hear the happiness that one person could bring another even in the midst of death and conflict.

“Not the same. You sound different,” Cody finally said as his chuckles died away. “You have a sexier voice.”

“Doubtful,” Rex snarled a bit on that one. Sometimes it was strange to have someone saying such loving things to you in the middle of the war. It was just felt awkward. Like they shouldn’t be allowed to be so happy when others were dying around them. Sometimes Rex didn’t want to let himself experience the kind of joy that Cody brought to him because he always felt so guilty.

“You don’t have to be snippy,” Cody said sounding a little bit hurt. Rex was the bumbling idiot in this relationship and he continued to prove it time and again. He was very thankful that Cody wasn’t as easily hurt as most people would be. He was very understanding, but there were times when Rex took it a bit too far and he could tell that Cody’s feelings were getting walked on.

“Sorry,” Rex said resigned to the fact that he said that a lot when they were talking. But wasn’t making up half the fun? Rex hoped that he would find out soon.

“Don’t be,” Cody said. “I know it’s difficult for you to express how you feel. It comes rather naturally for me. I just am glad to hear that you are still feeling okay.”

“I’m fine,” Rex said and sighed. “I’ll see you planetside?”

“I’ll be the one shooting the most tinnies,” Cody laughed.

“In your dreams,” Rex said and then blinked on the communication icon, shutting down the transmission before the doors to the briefing room slid open in front of him revealing General Skywalker and Commander Tano standing over a large holographic map, their shoulders hunched as they spoke quietly to each other.

“Captain,” General Skywalker said inclining his head in Rex’s direction as the doors closed behind him with a hiss.

“General,” Rex said in greeting and then headed over to his usual place near the map. Sometimes he wondered if the General knew what he was up to with Cody, but wasn’t saying anything at all. Sometimes there were looks that Rex just couldn’t explain and the General was giving him one of those right now. It made his skin crawl and he felt the sweat prickle on the back of his neck.

“Let’s get started,” the General finally said and Rex pulled his bucket from his head and set it down on the edge of the table. Thankfully the General was no preoccupied with the next mission and had stopped giving Rex that look. Rex might have broken if he kept looking at him that way.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went a little out on the limb with General Skywalker here, but I used it as a device. So please don't hate because of the way I made him.

The request had been rather short and terse. Rex was to report to General Skywalker’s personal office once he had returned to the ship. The nerves inside Rex’s stomach began to quiver and he felt as though he was about to throw up. No one, no matter how battle hardened you were, wanted to be called to the commanding officer’s personal quarters for a dressing down.

Rex had made some mistake in the recent campaign and he knew what they were. He didn’t feel like standing at ease and listening to someone who wasn’t actually getting their hands all that dirty, as they told him exactly what he was or wasn’t doing right. Rex had all the bodies of the men who had been killed due to his ineptness to remind him. That was punishment enough.

Still, General Skywalker had asked him to report immediately and like the “good little clone” that he had been trained to be, Rex was now heading that way, leaving behind him a trail of mud from where he had almost lost his boots in some swamp land that no one seemed to have any intel on until he was ankle deep in it. Yeah, the intel was amazing this time around, just as it had become so frequently over the past year. No wonder so many men were busy getting killed. Without the proper understanding of what they were facing, commanders couldn’t make the best judgment calls for their squads. Rex had learned that a very long time ago.

The trip was short to the office and Rex depressed the button requesting access. The door slid open and the room inside was rather dark. Darker than it normally was when the General was busy working at his desk and going over the day’s casualties and supplies. 

“Captain Rex,” the General’s voice said from over his shoulder. Rex spun around, his hands automatically resting on the hilts of his dual blaster pistols, but then he let his muscle relax as his stance took a more casual one, but still prepared for a surprise attack. Clones seemed to always be on alert because of the extreme muscle memory they carried with them. Repetitive drills really drove home what muscles were needed for what situation. Sometimes that came in very handy, but shooting the General would’ve been bad.

“General Skywalker,” Rex said nodding his head and turning back around.

The door slid closed and the room was plunged further into darkness. The only true lighting was the amber lighting which came from the underside of black desk at the far end. Luckily Rex could see everything with his infrared through his HUD. Everything was cast in a green glow as he looked into the darkness and picked out several features of the far wall.

“You wanted to see me General,” Rex said starting off the conversation so the dressing down could be quick and he could catch some sleep. Maybe those weren’t nerves in his stomach because he wasn’t sure the last time he had eaten was either. Chow would be good too.

“Bucket off,” the General said in a rather commanding tone, not moving from where he stood. It was unnerving how close, yet distant he could be all at the same time. Rex took tired fingers and pried the bucket from his head, plunged into the true darkness that was the office. He blinked several times to make his eyes accustomed to his surroundings.

“Always willing to follow orders,” the General said in a tone which sounded both teasing and very serious, mingled with some sarcasm. Rex felt a shiver rise in his spine, but fought against it. He didn’t want the jedi to know that he was getting unnerved.

“It’s my duty sir,” Rex said trying to sound as commanding as he should though inside he was feeling like he wanted to run.

“Well I’ve noticed that there are some orders that you just aren’t willing to follow so wholeheartedly,” the General said so softly that Rex could almost feel his breath on the back of his neck. He felt the hair there prickle.

“I don’t take your meaning,” Rex said very perplexed about what was going on. What had he done to make the General angry? This wasn’t regular anger because it felt farm more visceral. 

“So you think I wouldn’t find out about you and Commander Cody?” 

The words were there hanging between the two of them and Rex was sure that he had twitched in some way, giving away the fact that he knew exactly what the General was talking about. That was a very rookie move. Clones were supposed to be able to withstand interrogation and Rex had just failed with someone he knew.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Rex said, his voice very even, “but I don’t know what you are talking about.”

The chuckle was almost bone rattling, but Rex kept his demeanor as close to normal as he could. He didn’t want to give the General anything more to go on. 

“I knew you would say that,” the General said and then Cody’s voice filled the air around them.  You have a sexier voice.  It was gone as fast as it started, but it was the conversation they had before the briefing. Rex’s stomach dropped away as he thought about what this could mean for both of them. They would be transferred away from each other as quickly as possible and ordered not to contact each other anymore. Fraternizing was not good for the war, or at least that was what Rex had been told a million times during his training.

“When will I be transferred?” Rex asked his voice shakier and more resigned this time as he thought about what was going to happen to his men and who would be in charge of Torrent Company when he was gone. He felt sick.

The General walked leisurely to the corner of his desk and sat against the edge, crossing his arms over his chest. The smile that graced his face was sickening. Rex should’ve known to never trust a jedi. That had been his mistake to think that this jedi would be different.

“I’ve put in for your transfer, but have not heard back from headquarters about where they have decided to put you,” the General said matter of factly. So there was no reprieve for Rex and the transfer would be confirmed in the next few days. They would be pulling him away from Cody before anything even happened.

“Nothing happened between us,” Rex said trying his best to plead his case. “I’ve never fucked him.”

The General laughed and Rex grimaced. Of course he wouldn’t be believed because two clones together would cause all kinds of chaos, or that was what the Kaminoans had led people to believe. That was what they forced the jedi to believe. It was far from the truth. 

“I’m supposed to believe you Rex?” the General asked. “You have been hiding this from me and now you want me to trust you?”

“I haven’t touched him,” Rex’s voice was on fire now and he pointed a finger towards the General. “He hasn’t ever been with a man and I didn’t want to force myself on him. Cody is a good leader and a good clone. You can’t punish him for something he has never done.”

The air was heavy in the room. 

“It doesn’t matter,” the General finally said after a rather long silence where the only thing Rex could hear was the ringing in his ears. “You are being transferred. Report to you room until your transfer information is completed.”

Rex willed his body to move, but it wouldn’t. He couldn’t make that snap turn that was so bred into his body. This couldn’t end with him being transferred and Cody wondering what had happened to him. He wouldn’t let it end this way. 

“I wish to appeal the transfer,” Rex said calmly.

“You can’t win.”

“I have to try.”

<><>

The transfer orders had been as awful as Rex had thought they would be when they finally were delivered to him. He was being transferred to a listening station in the middle of nowhere. There were only five other men on the whole damned rock. He knew what these places were like from the inspection tour he had been on with Cody. They were the assholes of the galaxy and that was where they were going to transfer Rex. That was what General Skywalker wanted to do to him.

This was just a ploy to get him out of mainline service and away from Cody. It hurt. He had given everything he had to General Skywalker and all of his stupid plans, but this is how he was being treated. Just because jedi were “forbidden” from having relationships, they wanted to make sure that everyone else around them was as miserable. 

Rex was miserable.

His comm had been taken when the General had dismissed him. There was no way that he could contact Cody and tell him that things were bad. Rex was sure that Cody already knew and had a similar conversation with his General. Although, General Kenobi was one of the older jedi masters and probably didn’t treat Cody the way General Skywalker had treated Rex.

The door slid open. Yes, it was like clockwork when he was fed. The clone brought his tray in and placed it on the desk. Something was different though. This clone had yellow marks on his armor, just on the small of his back and the back of his thighs. They were very miniscule markings, but he was marked as part of the 212th. Cody had sent this man.

After the clone exited the room, Rex launched himself from his cot to the tray. Taking all the dishes from the tray, he turned it over and found, taped in one of the ridges on the underside, a small communicator. He tore it from it’s hiding place and checked it. It seemed to be one of the communicators that the intel guys used when they were deep undercover. They were very hard to trace and scrambled very well. Once he was finished using it, he would destroy it and no one would be the wiser.

“Cody,” Rex said as he pressed the small button activating the unit.

“I’m here,” Cody’s voice said in return and Rex let out a breath that he didn’t know he had been holding this whole time. “You alright?”

“I’m fine,” Rex said not really feeling that he was at all. Things were spiralling out of control and there was no amount of force or a blaster big enough to save him from what was happening.

“The have you on pretty tight lockdown over there,” Cody said sounding rather at ease with everything that was happening.

“And you?” Rex asked wanting to know if Cody found himself in a similar situation. 

“Not at all,” Cody said finally. He almost sounded sorry that there was nothing happening to him and Rex was taking the brunt of the situation. “I’ve been given some extra duty as punishment, but that’s it.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know and I don’t have much time, but I want to give you a piece of information that you can possibly use.”

Information. That was golden when it came to situations like these. This was merely a stand off until someone blinked and whether it was Rex being transferred or his appeal working, information was the best thing he was going to get next to a blaster.

“General Skywalker has been fraternizing as well,” Cody said calmly. “You have to use it against him because it’s the only thing that is going to get you out of the transfer.”

“With who?” Rex asked.

“Let’s just say General Kenobi was rather lenient because his conscious couldn’t take it,” Cody said and Rex was sure that he could almost hear a smile on the other clone’s lips. 

“Thank you,” Rex said truly unable to express to Cody his gratitude. He was just going to have to do that in person.

“Get your ass out of that jam,” Cody said and the comm went dead.

 


	8. Chapter 8

Rex’s spine was straight as a board, his helmet tucked neatly under his elbow. He was focused. Cody would not be torn from him, no matter what the General believed. Rex would win this one because he had to take that chance to have something normal. Something that all men his age would crave and something that everyone deserved, love.

“At ease,” General Kenobi said. The appeal of his transfer had to go to the other commanding officer and that had been Kenobi. “You want to appeal your transfer?”

“Yes, sir,” Rex said in that snappy way that clones often did. He had resigned himself to being a good clone. He would not step a toe out of line during this hearing. There was no reason to give General Skywalker a chance to reprimand him and convince Kenobi that the transfer was a good idea.

“General Skywalker,” Kenobi said turning to look at the other jedi. “Give your official statement.”

General Skywalker stood and began speaking. He outlined the exact things that he had said to Rex before taking him into custody, although the manner that he said them was not as brutal as he had been in his office. Skywalker also offered the small clip into evidence against Rex. I should’ve never saved your ass all those times Rex thought bitterly as he bit the inside of his cheek trying to keep himself from launching across the space and wrapping his fingers around the General’s throat.

Skywalker had ordered so many men to their deaths and now he wanted to take away the one thing that was helping to keep most of them alive. Rex had always been a good soldier and a good leader. He had always done what they had asked him and at what price? There was no normalcy for clones, there was no love. There was honor and battle. Those were the only two things they were given. Now Skywalker wanted to take that away from him as well and he wasn’t going to stand silently by as his transfer orders went through. Rex had resolved to right until his last breath.

He couldn’t let Cody down.

“Captain Rex,” Kenobi turned to look at the clone. “Your response.”

“Yes, Commander Cody and I have a different type of relationship than most clones. That is not what we are talking about here. I have not ever made any sexual advances towards Commander Cody and therefore have not ‘fraternized’ with another officer,” Rex knew that when Cody heard the words, they would hurt him. Cody had such a soft heart that sometimes it was hard to remember that he was such an able bodied warrior. That just wasn’t how Rex perceived him because Rex knew his heart. He knew the real Cody, not the soldier that the Generals thought they knew.

“I’ve never slept with him.”

Rex let the words trail off into the room. He was thankful that Cody was not here to be embarrassed by his admission. Not that Rex didn’t want to try and hadn’t tried, but he had to respect the other man and what he was comfortable with in their relationship.

“So you don’t characterize it as a sexual relationship?” Kenobi asked looking at Rex.

“No sir,” Rex said sternly, although he was sure that their proximity and the kisses they shared could be considered sexual, in a way. 

“It’s still fraternizing,” General Skywalker broke into their conversation, his eyes heated as they flashed to Rex. Rex still couldn’t figure out why Skywalker wanted him transferred so badly. Was it so he could take a stab at Commander Cody himself? It didn’t make sense, but that was the only thing that Rex could think to be the reason and it didn’t really sound like a good reason at all to jeopardize the war effort.

“No,” General Kenobi said. “It’s not. According to the definition that has been laid out in the manual of expectations, this does not fall into that realm.”

“If I might speak freely,” Rex said interrupting them. “If you want to point fingers, perhaps you should make sure that they don’t point directly back to you.”

Cryptic, he knew, but Skywalker would get what he was saying to them. It didn’t take long for the Generals to share some embarrassed looks between them. Rex was pretty sure that Kenobi was going to turn inside out as the redness rose in his cheeks. He knew that they were busy screwing each other behind closed doors, the whole damn 501st knew that it had been happening since the war began, but they all chose to look the other way because really it was none of their business where they put their cocks. It was clone business if they didn’t perform as they should on the battlefield and that had never been an issue. 

No one should be able to deny another the solace that they chose behind closed doors. Rex wasn’t just speaking for the troopers now, he was speaking for everyone who had ever been in love.

...

“Thank you,” Rex said looking at Cody through the blue hologram as it shimmered in front of him.

“You can thank me in person very soon,” Cody said and smiled back. “I don’t think we should be so sloppy next time though.”

“I agree. I’m getting too comfortable in my old age.”

Cody chuckled and Rex could feel the infectiousness of his laughter across the space between them. It warmed his thoughts to know Cody felt the same about him as he did about Cody. It hadn’t always been that way, but now it was a very comfortable thing between them.

“Stay safe,” Cody said breaking Rex from his thoughts. 

“You too,” Rex said and the transmission ended between them. Rex sighed and leaned back on his cot, his fingers finding a stray piece of thread on his blanket and twisting it around and around. There was so much to think about and Rex didn’t have any good answers to what would happen to them after the war, but he wished he did.

...

Rex mucked through the mud and it almost sucked his boots from his feet as he tried to move yet another inch. He was starting to get pretty pissed about being on this planet. All it did was rain and then bake under a hot sun for hours on end. Rex was sure his armor was starting to smell pretty bad after three days without a break and without adequate facilities to shower.

“Captain,” Fives said as he approached. There was no saluting on the battlefield because Rex had always taught his men not to give the tinnies any iota of an idea who was in charge. It was good to keep them guessing at all times. Plus they were less likely to shoot him down as quickly if they didn’t know he was in charge.

“What’s the report?” Rex asked as he plopped his helmet on a makeshift table that had been set up under a makeshift tent. The raggedy forward command center, but Rex was getting used to all the cost cutting measures that were being taken as the war dragged on. The Republic was not an endless, bottomless pit of money and it was starting to show.

“We are holding on the south ridge, but General Skywalker says he wants to advance in the west,” Fives said and Rex was sure he could hear the irritation buried somewhere in there. Many of the clones were starting to doubt General Skywalker was entirely stable, especially after he had tried to have Rex transferred. Rex always put it down to his boys’ loyalty, but he was starting to doubt the General’s ability to make good decisions as well. There had been far too many mistakes that had helped to get them into this mess. Most of those mistakes were in tactics by General Skywalker.

“Raise Commander Tano,” Rex said. If he couldn’t get it through General Skywalker’s head, then maybe he could make Commander Tano understand what he was trying to say. She always seemed to be a little more stable than most jedi, although she was Skywalker’s student and there could be some loyalty there. He would just have to give it his best try.

“Commander Tano on the line,” Fives said.

“Captain,” her image shimmered to life in front of him. Her large eyes were regarding him across the void. Somehow he always felt like she was probing him. Probably just the cautionary tales they were told as youngsters on Kamino that warned jedi would know if they were lying.

“Commander Tano,” he said with respect to her rank. “I understand we are moving towards the west.”

“Yes Captain,” she said.

“I think this is ill advised,” Rex said putting on his best commanding voice. He wanted her to understand that he didn’t think this was a good idea at all. He had to get this through her head. She kind of shrugged, but that was all the acknowledgement Rex got. He had hoped for something more substantial.

“We are moving,” Ahsoka’s voice said and Rex thought he heard a tinge of regret buried somewhere inside of the words, but he wasn’t sure. Sometimes Commander Tano took up the cause of the clones, but it seemed this time, she wasn’t up to the task. Perhaps her master was acting as he had become recently so fond of and leaving her out of the loop of what was happening with his plans. He was doing that more and more to the people who were supposed to be his advisors. Rex was one of the people who only knew the plans when they were finalized. It hadn’t always been that way between them.

“Thank you Commander,” Rex said and snapped off his comm. He sighed heavily.

“Raising General Kenobi,” Fives said without Rex having to even ask. If Commander Tano wouldn’t help them, then he would plead his case directly to General Kenobi.

The image of Kenobi shimmered to life and he could see the other man fending off blaster bolts with his lightsaber. Rex was mesmerized by the way he acted as though he wasn’t even concentrating on the battle, but was returning fire easily. A shiver ran up his spin because jedi always did kind of creep him out.

“This better be very important Captain,” Kenobi said some irritation bleeding into his voice. That wasn’t like General Kenobi, but he was getting calls in the middle of campaign. Rex knew everyone was almost to the point of breaking on this mission. 

“General Skywalker has ordered us to move to the west,” Rex said and crossed his arms over his chest.

“WHAT?” Kenobi asked with surprised. Three or four more blaster bolts came into view and were quickly dispatched with a swipe of the General’s lightsaber.

“We are holding here until further instruction,” Rex said. 

“Thank you Captain.”

...

Rex trudged back towards a waiting tent as the fresh troops were being deployed to the south ridge. There still had been no order by General Kenobi to move west, but he was sure there would be some amended plan coming soon. All he wanted now was a few minutes of shut eye. He would sleep in a corner, he didn’t care. His body ached from his scalp all the way to the bottom of his feet. 

The comm on his wrist beeped. Rex stopped dead in his tracks, unable to move and talk at the same time. It was too much work.

“What?” Rex said his voice irritated and a snarl. He didn’t want to be bothered, he wanted to get some sleep that had been promised to him when the back-up had arrived.

“You need to hurry,” the voice on the other end, maybe Kix, said from the other end. The words were hollow and Rex’s heart started to beat against his chest plate as scenarios started rushing through his mind.

“Who?” 

“Cody.”

Rex didn’t bother clicking off the comm and started sprinting toward the medical facility. As he ran he pulled his helmet off and the air blew against his face. His body was no longer tired and adrenaline coursed through his veins.


	9. Chapter 9

Cody was unrecognizable with his armor covered in dirt and blood. His face was swollen and Rex was having trouble choking back the tears forming in his chest at the sight. He wanted to sob. He wanted to make everything right, but was sure he couldn’t. He wasn’t sure there was anything he could do now.

“He’s been hit in the chest,” Kix said using his best “cot side manner” but Rex knew what it meant and the meaning was dower. “We have a chest tube in him and we are afraid to take off his armor because I’m afraid it will loosen the wound too much and cause severe internal bleeding.”

“Stop,” Rex said putting up a hand to stop Kix from spouting off more medical terms and the reasons they are going to do whatever they were doing. Rex just wanted to touch him. He wanted to let Cody know he was there because that was all he had to offer him.

“I can’t let you go in there Rex,” Kix finally said, “there is too much risk of infection and it would kill him.”

“I’m overruling you,” Rex said.

“No. I’m the commanding officer in these situations and I say you’re staying put.”

“I don’t give a flying fuck who is in charge. I’m going in there.”

Rex was stripping off his armor as he spoke. He wanted to be as close to skin contact with Cody as he could be because this may be the last time. The idea rose like a lump inside of his throat and Rex felt like he couldn’t breathe around it. This might be the last time he got to touch Cody and got to hold him. It was not acceptable. They would have to save him or Rex didn’t know what he would do. His troops didn’t want to see what would happen if Cody died.

“I advise against it,” Kix said placing a hand on the door to try and stop Rex from going into the small observation room where Cody was laying on a cot.

Rex pulled his blaster pistol from his holster and pointed it at Kix’s temple. Maybe this was going too far, but in this case, it wasn’t going far enough. Cody was his top priority, not some stupid medical mumbo jumbo.

“Now Kix,” Rex said fiercely, his teeth gritted together at the pain he felt inside. “You can either get out of my way or you can get your brains splattered all over this wall. Those are the two options. Chose carefully.”

Kix put up his hands in surrender and moved away from the door. Rex knew how to get things accomplished and he would not be stopped from seeing Cody. His heart would not let him be stopped from seeing Cody.

The door creaked as Rex entered the room, but Cody didn’t move. Most likely he was heavily sedated and wouldn’t even know Rex was there, but Rex would know. Besides the cot in the middle of the room, there was a small stool that Rex pulled up next to Cody. Gingerly he touched Cody’s hand, but there was no response. The heart monitor jumped slightly, but went back to the normal rhythm after just a small interruption. Cody’s hand was cold as though he had been outside in a snowstorm on Hoth. It was a bad sign.

“Cody,” Rex said his voice wavering. He sighed because he had to hold it together. Cody didn’t need him falling to pieces and only needed him to be strong. Rex could be strong, but seeing Cody laid open in front of him was hard, even for the most war hardened clone.

“Well I see you found another way just to get out of fighting,” Rex laughed with a forced chuckle. They always said even if someone was in a coma, they could still hear you. He would just have to find something to say to Cody.

Rex leaned over and kissed Cody’s lips, brushing against them gently.

<><>

“How long has he been here?” General Kenobi asked Kix as they stood outside looking into Cody’s small observation room.

“I’d say at least three days,” Kix said. “I was trying to keep track, but I’ve been a little busy patching people up.”

“Thanks,” Obi-wan said and pushed open the door to Cody’s room. Rex shot to his feet and stood at attention. “At ease Captain.”

Rex slumped back onto the stool and placed his hand over Cody’s. Right now he didn’t care about the rules and didn’t care what the General might be thinking. He was here for Cody, and only for Cody.

“Any change?” General Kenobi asked looking at Cody.

“No sir,” Rex said precisely, even though he was exhausted. He hadn’t slept in some time, but he was made for not sleeping and still functioning. It was one of Rex’s specific talents, thanks to the Kaminoans.

“I don’t want to order you to get some rest, but I think you should,” General Kenobi said in that soft voice that sometimes made you do things and think they were your idea. Rex shook his head against the sound.

“You don’t understand,” Rex said. “I can’t leave him. He would never leave me.”

“I know he wouldn’t,” Kenobi said easily. “He also wouldn’t want you to kill yourself when he was in capable hands.”

“I can’t.”

General Kenobi sighed and Rex knew he was being stubborn, but he couldn’t leave Cody here. What if something happened and he wasn’t there? Rex would never forgive himself.

Suddenly the monitor wailed and several alarms started going off. Rex shot to his feet and grabbed Cody’s hand. General Kenobi rushed to the clones side and placed both hands on him.

“Cardiac arrest,” Kix called from the door and he and several other medics crowded into the room. “You have to leave!”

“NO!” Rex shouted as Kix pushed him towards the door. Rex fought back with all his strength, but felt himself being dragged away.

There was no time to think as Rex and General Kenobi were pushed out the door and all the clones inside busily worked around Cody. Rex pressed his face against the observation window to get a better view and he could feel General Kenobi put his hand on his shoulder.

Somehow the jedi knew it was too late.

<><>

The screaming stopped. Rex didn’t know where it was coming from, but it had stopped. Then he realized it was coming from him. The duracrete felt hard under his knees as he fell to them and the world smeared around him as tears filled his eyes and fell down his cheeks.

He couldn’t breathe. There was no more air. There was no more anything.

Discarded gloves hit the floor next to Rex, covered in blood and there was some muted sounds of people talking, but it was nothing he could make out. He was helpless, unable to move and unable to speak.

The screaming started again and this time he knew it was him.

Arms were hooked under his armpits and he was being dragged away from the room, but his hands reached out towards the door desperately. He had to hold him and kiss him again. He had to. Rex broke free of the hands and burst into the room.

Fresh blood was on the white plastoid armor of Cody’s chest and his eyes were closed in a way which made Rex think he was sleeping and this was all a joke. Yeah, they got him good.

Rex took Cody’s hand and it was cold. Colder than it had been before.

“NO!” the sound rang in Rex’s ears, but he wasn’t sure where it came from. He wanted to run, he wanted to take Cody and get away. This could not be happening. Rex grabbed Cody’s body and pulled it to his chest, hugging him close. Cody’s head lulled back and Rex buried his face in the other clones neck.

“Come back to me,” Rex sobbed against Cody’s skin. “Don’t leave me here.”

<><>

The world had stopped.

Rex was alone, placed in General Kenobi’s temporary battle quarters until he could be transported back to the ship. Kenobi had made sure Rex would be able to escort Cody’s body back to the ship. It was the last thing he could do for his love.

“You want something to eat?” Kenobi asked entering the makeshift dwelling. Rex could only shake his head no. He didn’t want to eat. He wanted Cody back.

The front of his body suit was caked with Cody’s blood and he refused to take it off, no matter how many times the General had offered him fatigues. He couldn’t. It was all he had left of Cody.

“When am I leaving with Cody?” Rex ask, his voice scratchy from all the screaming and crying.

“Cody has been transported back to the ship already,” General Kenobi said sighing. “You are still assigned to General Skywalker and he didn’t want you to leave the battle area.”

Rex was frozen on the inside. Skywalker had turned into a real son of a bitch, but how could he do this to Rex. He would pay.

“I got you these,” Kenobi said handing Rex two envelopes. He turned the envelopes over in his hands and then opened the first one. Inside was a small amount of dark hair, tied with a string. The tears came fresh to Rex’s eyes. It was Cody’s hair. Yes, it was the same as his, but this was something that belonged to Cody. It was a piece of him. Sobs followed as Rex bent over and rested his arms on his thighs, letting the sobs take over his whole body.

“Shhh,” General Kenobi said placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing gently.

“Thank you sir,” Rex managed through the sobs.  He managed to calm himself and opened the second envelope, inside was a chip.

“Holographic,” General Kenobi said. “Cody made me promise that if anything happened to him, you would get this chip. I don’t know what is on it and I think it’s probably something you should view in private.”

There were no other words from General Kenobi as he took his datapad and slipped out the front of the dwelling, leaving Rex with Cody’s final words. His hands were shaking as he slipped the chip on the reader.

A figure shimmered to life. It was Cody. Rex couldn’t stop himself from breaking into fresh sobs.

“If you are seeing this,” Cody’s voice said into the silence, “then I have met my end on the battlefield. I know you are overwhelmed with grief, Rex. I don’t blame you because I have put myself in your place many times. I have always known one of us would be alone, but I had always prepared for it to be me.

“It won’t be easy. I can’t promise you it will be, but you can’t check out because of me. There are men who need you. I know you won’t let them down, but I have to remind you how much they are counting on you. You can’t let my death be the reason you let countless other men die. You have to be there for your boys.

“I always appreciated that you never pressured me Rex and that you always were unafraid to show how much you loved me. I know you will find someone else and it’s okay, I wanted to let you know it’s okay. I would never ask you to not love again because I have known the ferocity of your love and I think someone out there deserves to feel it too.

“Good bye my Rex. Be safe out there. I love you.”

The image shimmered and was gone far too quickly and no one heard Rex’s cries.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here I leave my boys. I don't relish Cody dying, but the story speaks what it wants done. I will be writing other Cody and Rex fics in the future (working on one now). I hope you come back and enjoy their relationship with me, just not in this time or story.
> 
> Good Bye Cody.


End file.
